We come to the Lord's table next
Sunday. That's the table of remembrance.
He says, do this in remembrance of Me. And we know why, don't
we? We're sinners. We are forgetful. Some of us more than others. I'm lousy with names, but I'm
even lousier with remembering my Savior. And I'm ashamed of
saying that, but I am. I've told you this before. We
come to that table, and you know why? Because God sat at a table
with His disciples, His apostles, and He said, down the road, the
guy named John Rhys, who's going to forget about me every time
he turns around, every time he walks out that door, he's going
to forget who it is that saves him. But he's not going to just
forget that. He's going to forget why he needs to be saved. Tell
me if I'm wrong. Do we not forget sometimes that
we are what we are? More often than we want to admit,
don't we? I'm not that bad a person. Oh,
yes, I am. And it's good that God shows
us in our travels, in our studying of His Word, He shows us reminders
of that pit, that deep pit that we once walked in before He called
us out of darkness. before He shines the light of
His Son in our hearts. That's what salvation is, folks.
Yes, salvation is being saved from our sin, but the only way
to be saved is to see the light of truth, the light of His Son,
the Lord Jesus, as our Savior. We don't just come to the table
of remembrance, we come to remember what we are and why He had to
save us, what it was that cost us our salvation, cost Him our
salvation. It cost Him His Son. It's freed
us, but it cost Him the blood. Are you washed in His blood? Are you washed in the blood of
God? Here in John chapter 8. I want
to read 12 verses with you, if you would, please. Beginning
at verse 1. John chapter 8, verse 1. Jesus went unto the mouth of
all. And early in the morning, He
came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him.
And He sat down and talked. Isn't that amazing? God teaches
us. You know, if He didn't have to,
He could have just wiped everything out and said, I'm going to start
over. But that's not the wisdom of God. No, the wisdom of God
is this. I will teach my people, and they
will believe and know me. And early in the morning he came
again into the temple, and all the people came unto him, and
he sat down and taught them." Verse 3, "'And the scribes and
the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery.'"
Now I want to stop there just a moment because I want to make
a point here. Notice these religious people. That's what scribes are. See, back in the days when Israel
walked this earth and ruled the world, They ruled Israel, as
they do now. They were the religious. Everybody
looked to them. They had all kinds of other religion
as well, but the religious people of that day was Israel. And the
Lord uses that to show us here, they brought in a woman in adultery. Now, what does it take to become
an adulterer? Does it take two? You can't be
an adulterer unless there's somebody else to be an adulterer with
you, right? takes two. So they just brought
one in. So we see the religious people
setting up our Lord right off the bat. They don't even bring
in the man, they're just bringing in the woman. And when they had
set her in the midst, but we're gonna make an example of this
woman here, we're gonna track this one called the Lord Jesus,
who's going around doing all these good things and healing
people, feeding thousands, and saying that he died, we're going
to trap him in his womb birth. Verse 4, and they said unto him,
Master, this woman was taken in adultery. I can imagine how
they said that word master. It must have just squeezed it
out of their teeth. Remember, these are the same
people who are trying to kill the Lord for saying that he and
his father are one. Master, this woman was taken
in adultery in the very act. They caught her in the act with
him, yet they don't bring him. Verse 5, now Moses, now here
they go, we know the law. We follow the law. We do the
right thing. We wear the right clothes. We
go to church on Sunday. We do all the right stuff. The
law says this, commands us that such should be stolen. But what
says thou? Hear the words of these religious
folks. It reminds me of an aunt that
used to tell, they said this to me, she said, you will not
take my free will away from me. She had no idea that she was
bound by her nature, the nature of sin. Verse six, this they
said, tempting, did you see that? Tempting God Almighty himself. that they might have to accuse
him. But Jesus stooped down, and with
his finger wrote on the ground as though he had heard them not.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and
said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first,
past the stone. So here, the Lord Jesus, before
He even speaks to him, He reaches down, He writes with His finger
into the dirt. That's the finger of God. What
is the finger of God? It's the all-knowing. He knows
these men. He knew these men would come
to Him before they were ever born. He's God. He knows all
things. If He doesn't know all things,
you can't call Him God, could you? So He writes in the dirt. And then he says, he that is
without sin among you let him first cast the stone. Verse eight,
and again, he stood down and wrote on the ground. And they
which heard it, did you notice that? Folks, this is God's Word. There's a reason why he wrote
heard instead of saw. Those who heard it, being convicted
of their own conscience, God Almighty was speaking to their
heart. See, that's how God deals with us. When the Lord first
dealt with me, sitting right over here next to my sister-in-law
Shirley and Lee, He talked to me, not the man standing up here,
but God did, through His Word, convicting John Reeves of the
sinner that he was and is. Today, the Lord talks through
His Word. But just as we're reading here,
how the conviction of this woman being a sinner sat before the
crowd. He says the same thing to you
and I. Let's go on, shall we? In which they heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
in the eldest, even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone,
and the woman standing in the midst. So here it is, God Almighty
dealing with the one-on-one. I remember that day clearly.
It didn't matter what Pastor James was saying to everybody
else. What mattered was what God was saying to me that day.
He was telling me, and I heard James laughing. There's nobody
here laughing. He's telling me, John, there's
a Savior who's saved. There's a God who deserves to
be called God. Not one who wants, but one who
does. what it is to have God speak
to our hearts, to shine His light in the hearts of His people.
Let's go on. So he was left alone with her,
standing in the midst, and when Jesus had lifted up and fell,
verse 10, and saw none, remember all the men, all the Pharisees,
they'd all jumped and had convicted their hearts, as we read back
there in their consciences, back there in verse 9, they were all
gone, so he stood up and he said, Where are those thine accusers? Where did they go? Where did
they go? And she said, no man, Lord. And
Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go. and sin. Neither do I. God Almighty. What does it say in John 1? In
the beginning was God, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Folks, there's no argument. Jesus
Christ is God in the flesh. If you don't believe that, then
we're wasting our time here. Not only is he God in the flesh,
he's the creator of everything that is. And that very one looked
this woman in the eye and said, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. What? How can that be? We know we still sin, don't we? Those of us who have been called
out of darkness Those of us who have had the light of God's grace
shine in our hearts know one thing for sure. I'm the biggest
sinner that's ever walked this earth. And it hasn't gotten any
better. In fact, if anything, it's gotten
worse. Sin never bothered me before. I could tell you a white
lie and it wouldn't bother me at all. I could do all kinds
of things that wouldn't bother me at all today. Why did I think that? Why did
I just do that? Why did I just hurt my Savior? Is that what sin is? This passage
that you and I just looked at teaches us, reminds us of the
severity of God's law. How do you say that, John? The law of God is unbending,
folks. You can't, well, I've only told
one white lie my whole life. You can't just, well, that's
it. Okay, that's all it costs. That's it. One might like, the
penalty for sin is death. That's why everything's dying.
That's why the trees die. That's why everything dies. Who
do you know who's lived forever on earth? We don't know anybody,
do we? No, everything dies. Why? Because
of sin. When Adam sinned, God threw the
entire creation into a curse. Cursed is the ground that you
walk on, he said. All of creation died in our Father
Adam. It's unbending. There's no compromising
it. It's strict justice. The law
of God required that this woman be put to death. Let me show
you that. Mark your spot there, John. We're
going to come back to it. Turn over to Deuteronomy. That's
the fourth book in the Bible. Deuteronomy. Turn over to chapter
22. I want you to see this for yourself.
I want you to read these words. This applies to us. You know
what adultery is in spiritual affairs? It's worshiping anything
other than God. The true God. The true and living
God. If you worship yourself, you've
committed adultery against Him who is God. If you worship another
religion, another God of any type, you've committed adultery
against the true and living God. Over here in verse 22-24, we
read these words, 22-24, If a man be found lying with a woman,
married to an husband, and then they shall both of them die,
both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman, so shalt
thou put away evil from Israel. If a damsel, that is a virgin,
be bothered, be betrothed unto an husband, And a man find her
in the city, and lie with her. Then he shall bring them both
out unto the gate of the city, and he shall stone them with
stone that they die. The damsel, because she cried
not, being in the city, and the man, because he has humbled his
neighbor's wife. So shalt thou put away evil from
among you. One more, if you would. Go to
the left, back to Leviticus chapter 20. Look at one verse over there. Verse 10, and the man that committed
adultery with another man's wife, even he that committed the adultery
with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress
shall surely be put to death. Wow. Notice that there wasn't
any, well, maybe that's a little too strong. Do we understand
the depth of our depravity? Do we not easily forget that
depth sometimes? Folks, I go to church on Sunday,
every Sunday. I do what I can to help the poor.
I quit smoking. I try not to cuff the way I used
to. You see how easy it is for us to forget about that pit that
God brought us out of? That pit that He lifted down
and pulled His people up out of. The law of God is perfectly
clear. and utterly severe the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. That's Ezekiel chapter 18 verse
20. The law does not take into consideration
the sinner's age, only their guilt. The law does not take
into consideration the sinner's ability or the lack of ability,
it only takes into consideration our guilt. The law does not take
into consideration the sinner's environment, only our guilt. Any lack of conformity to the
holy law of God in thought, in word, or in deed demands eternal
damnation. You see, sin is an evil that
is committed against an infinitely holy God. And it demands infinite
satisfaction. It demands eternal punishment. We're guilty. We must die. The law of God demands it. It
says the soul that sinneth shall surely die. Now over to Romans
chapter 3 we read this. Now we know that what things
soever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them who are under the law.
Remember what that is? those who think they have to
do something, those who turn away from what we call grace,
from what God teaches in His Word, that we are saved by grace,
not by fulfilling the law. Why? Because we can't. As long
as we walk in this body of flesh, we will not fulfill the law of
God because the law of God demands perfection. And there's only
one who has ever completed and fulfilled God's law, and that's
His Son, the Lord Jesus. He's the only one. And He's only
done it for a certain amount of people. A particular people. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me is what He says. You're catching the grace in
that? It's not something you can earn. It's not something
that you can learn on your own. You must be taught of God. only
God can teach us that we are saved by grace through faith
in Him. We know that what things soever
the law sayeth, it sayeth to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin." That's what the law is for right there.
The whole law of God is to teach you and I that we can't do it.
That we must seek the grace of God is what we must seek. And
we won't seek it unless He comes to us and gives us the grace
to do so. That's His grace. We're saved
by grace. But it's through faith. What
that means is it's through believing Him. That whosoever that believeth
in Jesus shall have everlasting life. Salvation is by works. of the law is foolishness. Yet
those religious people of that day, just as the religious people
of this day, think that they can accomplish their salvation
by being righteous in their own works. The law demands perfection
or punishment. It offers no alternatives. These men brought that woman
in our text back in John 8, coming before the Lord expecting the
law to be fulfilled, expecting her to die. And grace stood before
her. Grace stood before her. Mercy stood in her midst and
said, I do not either. Go. I don't know what she said,
but let me quote that correctly. Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. How can we
go and sin no more? Folks, if Christ doesn't condemn
us, it's because He condemned His Son Himself for us. He's called our Son of the King.
He's called the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Why? Because before anything was ever created, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit agreed that a people would
be saved by the works of His Son, the Lord Jesus. And that's
exactly what is happening. Everything our Lord has promised,
everything He said, everything He has desired has come to pass
exactly as He has desired it to be so. Folks who say, you
know, Christ, He died for everybody, He's just waiting for those of
you to accept Him? Nonsense. Nonsense. If God wants something, He's
going to have it. It says in the Old Testament, if I have
purposed it, shall I not do it? Everything that has happened
in history, starting from the very second right now, all the
way back, has been the purpose of God. Or He's not God. If anything
could have happened that wasn't His purpose, could you still
call Him God? No, you could call Him something,
but you couldn't call Him God. We have here a sinner, this woman,
who is condemned. She was caught in the very act
of sinning. We have here a sinner who is
deserving of death, and yet she stands before the merciful one,
the gracious one, the one who will intercede on her behalf. Have you ever thought about this
in reading that very verse there? Why would she not answer to the
Lord, Lord, do you not accuse me, as described in the Pharisee,
when he asked, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Why didn't she answer it that
way? How come she didn't say, well, aren't you going to accuse
me? She saw grace. Isn't that what we see? When
we look into the Word of God and we see our Savior, the Lord
Jesus, are we not looking in the face of grace Himself? How
is it that He could say to her, go forth, go, and sin no more? There's only one way, and that's
to be in Christ. Turn over to Romans chapter 8.
We'll come back again in a moment to John. But I want to go to
Romans chapter 8 for a moment. Scriptures teach us much about
divine forgiveness. It shows us that sin cannot be
forgiven until God's broken law is what? Silenced. It has to
be silenced. Otherwise, the devil could accuse
us. Wait a minute. That one is sin, and that sin
hasn't been paid for. The law has to be silenced, doesn't
it? Over in Romans chapter 8, look at verse 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation. You can't be condemned. The sin
that you have committed, if you are in Christ Jesus the Lord,
if you belong to Him, if you are one for whom His palms have
the inscription of His people, if you are one for whose name
is on His breastplate, there is no condemnation. to them which
are what? What does it say next? In Christ
Jesus. Who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. How could she go forth and sin
no more? Right there. That's the answer.
In Christ. If you're in Christ, You can't
sin anymore. Oh, there's still sin in this
body. Oh, you bet there is. But did you notice what it said
there at the end? Who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Let's go on. Verse two. For the
law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death, for what the law could not do,
in that it was weak. Nobody's ever been saved by the
law. Remember what the law is for? What is it for? It's to
teach us about sin. But what the law could not do,
that it was weeped through the flesh, God sending his own Son,
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh be mined to think of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit to think of the Spirit. For to
be carnally mined is death, but spiritually mined is life. Let
me show you what I mean by God must do something for Himself
before He can do anything for a sinner. Before this woman could
be forgiven, the law of God had to be dealt with. Her accuser
had to be silenced, and before any of us could be forgiven,
the accusations of God's law must be silenced as well. Well,
Christ Jesus fulfilled the law, and when He hung on that cross,
He was made Now remember, Christ never sinned. Everything He did
was perfect. He's God. He could do nothing
less than perfect. Something had to transform Him.
And what was transformed? Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. Something had to happen. For He, it says in verse 21,
God the Father, for He hath made Him, God the Son, to be sin for
us. And then it says, who knew no
sin? That's speaking of Christ. Christ never knew He sinned.
Why? Why did God the Father make His
Son sin for us? That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Folks, there's mysterious things
to God's Word left and right. I mean, give me an example. Christ
being born in a virgin. Has that ever been known to happen
anywhere at any time? No. How do you explain that?
I can't. But I tell you, it's true. God becoming flesh. Can you explain that? No, I can't.
The mystery of God. God being three in one. Can you
explain that? No, I can't. God being made sin. I can't explain that either,
but God's Word tells us it is. And this is the way to salvation.
He had to be made sin. My sin. Had to be laid on Him. That sin had to be paid for.
How could this woman go forth and sin no more? Because in Christ,
we are perfected forever, those who are sanctified in Christ.
That's what it says in Hebrews chapter 10. So we see this, he
was made sin and we would be made the righteousness of God
in him. It shows, the scriptures teach us that the only way that
we can be saved is through divine forgiveness. It shows us that
sin cannot be forgiven until God's law, broken law, is silenced. God must do something for himself
before he can do anything for a sinner. Now how can that be
done? How could he fulfill the law, and yet save this poor,
guilty, and adulterous woman? How could he fulfill the law,
and yet save you and I?" First, our Lord Jesus had to silence
the woman's accusers. Look back at our text again,
if you would, at verses 6 and 9. John chapter 8, verses 6 through
9. This they said, tempting him
that they might have to accuse him. So we see that here's the
accusers. God had to silence them. But Jesus stooped down. And with his finger wrote on
the ground, as though he had heard them not. So when they
had continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said unto
them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast
the stone at her. And again he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being
convicted of their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
with the eldest, even unto the last, And Jesus was left alone
with the woman standing in their way. So we see right there the
Lord silencing the accusers. Now at first He ignored those
religious hypocrites. He knew where they were trying
to get Him penned in, what they were doing. But they continued
to press the issue anyway, thinking that they had trapped the Lord.
What foolishness. Then He drove away the woman's
accusers by riding in the dirt, possibly this. Maybe He was pointing
out some of their sins to them. Maybe he was pointing out some
thoughts, but only they had. We don't know, but we know this,
that whatever it was he wrote in the dirt, it sent them away
again. They could no longer choose the
very one. Over again in Romans chapter
8, we read back there in the very last verses of Romans chapter
8. Who is he that condemned? I'm sorry, verse 33. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies,
who is he that can dim it? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather than is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Our Lord silenced the
woman's accusers, and he drove them away, just as he has done
one by one, all sufficient sin and coming sacrifice for us in
Calvary. Our Lord Jesus, our glorious Christ, has forever
silenced the claims against us, as we read in Romans 8, chapter
1, verses 1-4. There is not no condemnation
to them who walk in Christ. This is the only means by which
the law of God can be satisfied and the mercy of God extended.
Christ died as our substitute in our stead on that cross. Are
you washed in the blood? That's the psalm. Are you washed
in the blood? Our Lord Jesus Christ freely
forgave this guilty woman. She was guilty. but not condemned. The law could not condemn her
any further, for Christ had paid for her sin on that cross. That's
why he stood there before her and said, where are your accusers?
And he accepted when she answered, neither do I. And he accepted
when she said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither
do I condemn thee. Turn over to 1 John. 1 John 2,
there's three small little books right before Revelation. 1, 2, and 3 John. If our Lord
had said, go and sin no more, and I will not condemn thee,
then this woman would have left, and she would have had no hope. Why? Because she's still sinning.
In this body of flesh we walk in, we still deal with the sins
of this flesh every day. We need to be reminded of who
it is that put away that sin when we come to the table of
remembrance. But what our Lord said was this.
He said, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. As guilty sinners worthy of eternal
damnation, we worship and praise the Lord Jesus, our Redeemer,
for the free, full, everlasting pardon that He has given us through
His blood. The precious blood is the only
way God can or will forgive our sin. And that shed blood is affectionate. It secures the forgiveness for
every sinner for whom the Savior died, not just, not the whole
world, but for everyone that He died for. Every sinner who
believes on the Son of God and to everlasting life, He says
these words, go and sin no more. Well, how can I go? and sin no
more by looking to the blood of Christ, our Savior." Paul
said, I wish to know nothing of you save Christ and Him crucified.
Why? Because it's the Lord Jesus Christ
and His blood that we must look to, just as it was the brazen
serpent that was held up in the wilderness. Who is it they were
to look to if they got bitten by the poisonous snakes? They
were to look to Christ. Who is it here to look to if
you get bitten by the sin of this flesh? you look to Christ. Look here at verses 1 and 2 of
1 John chapter 2. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And
He is the propitiation, the payment, the expiation for our sins, and
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
And we know that that's not talking about all of mankind. We know
that that's talking about all of His people throughout all
time, every nation, every tongue. If you're in Christ... Let's
look at one more, just to the left here. We've got another
man here. Turn to the left over to 1 Peter.
Just a couple of pages. 1 Peter 1. We saw there in 1
John that we have an advocate in heaven. The very advocate
that was making intercession for that woman right there before
those religious men. This is the same one who keeps
his people even though we walk through this valley of the shadow
of death. Look at verse 2. Elect, that means chosen, called
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit and obedience of the sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to these abundant virtues
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. Despite what that woman was going
to go through for the rest of her life as she walked this earth,
her inheritance was incorruptible. It was undefiled, and it fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the
power of God through faith." Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ,
ready to be revealed in the last time. If you're in Christ, His
blood is sufficient. That's what we read over in Jude
1.24-25. Now unto him that is able to present you faultless. before the presence of His glory,
with exceeding joy, to the only One, God our Savior, be glory
and majesty and dominion forever. In Acts 13, verse 39 we read
these words, And by Him all who believe are justified on all
things, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. I want to close with an article
from J.C. Popeye, who says it better than
any I've read and better than I could. He says these words,
For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in
no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's the Lord Jesus
speaking. He says those very words, Matthew 5, verse 20, that's
part of the Sermon on the Mount. So, unless your righteousness
will exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
and we know the scribes and Pharisees had no righteousness, don't.
You shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. There are
three kinds of righteousness, or at least three kinds of righteousness
which truly bear that name. First, there is inherent righteousness,
of which we have none. Then there is imputed righteousness,
which is all our justification. And lastly, there is imparting
righteousness. When God the Spirit makes us
new creatures and raises up in our hearts that new man, which
after the image of God is created and the righteousness of true
holiness, that's what we read in Ephesians 4.24. Therefore,
when the Lord said, Accept your righteousness, ye shall see the
righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven." He was not speaking
of an external righteousness brought out of obedience to the
law, but an internal righteousness brought out by the Holy Spirit. How can you go forth and sin
no more? By being in the Spirit of God,
looking to Christ for love. When the Lord told those tells
you and I that only the righteousness that exceeds those scribes and
those Pharisees can we get into the kingdom of heaven. It's the
righteousness of Christ. How can you go and sin no more? By looking to the righteousness
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. I want to sing this last song
and keep this in mind. How can we go forth and sin no
more? By being in the righteousness
of Christ himself, standing in his righteousness, and His righteousness
alone, His grace is greater than all our sin. Go and sin no more. Be ye holy, for our God is holy,
and there's only one way to do that, in our Savior, the Lord
Jesus.